Plato and Aristotle on Poetry | National Humanities Center

Work of the Fellows: Edited Volumes

Plato and Aristotle on Poetry

By Gerald F. Else (NHC Fellow, 1978–79)

Poetry; Poetics; Plato; Aristotle

Chapel Hill: The University of North Carolina Press, 1986

From the publisher’s description:

This book is a guide to the poetics of the two Greek fountainheads of Western literary theory. Part I traces the development of Plato's great themes of inspiration and imitation but makes no attempt to reduce his disparate statements to a system. Part II demonstrates that Aristotle's Poetics embodies a powerful theory of literature that answers Plato's objections to poetry as an emotionally powerful, and therefore dangerous, communication of false opinion.

Subjects
Classics / Philosophy / Literature / Poetry / Poetics / Plato / Aristotle /

Else, Gerald F. (NHC Fellow, 1978–79). Plato and Aristotle on Poetry. Chapel Hill: The University of North Carolina Press, 1986.